HIDALGO, Texas – The way Chas Skelly went after Maximo Blanco, you would have thought his car was double-parked outside the arena.

After a furious attack in the opening seconds that dropped Blanco (12-8-1 MMA, 4-5 UFC), Skelly (16-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) snagged a D’arce choke and used it to put Blanco to sleep just 19 seconds into the opening round.

The featherweight bout opened up the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 94 event at State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas. It aired on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Related:

Skelly began the fight by sprinting across the cage as soon as referee Herb Dean gave the signal to fight, and the force of his opening onslaught seemed to catch Blanco by surprise.

Even as Blanco rushed to the center of the cage to meet Skelly with a kick, Skelly elevated over it and tagged Blanco with a leaping kick that put him down, with Skelly following close behind.

In the scramble that followed, Skelly quickly locked up a D’arce choke and squeezed it as Blanco attempted to roll out. Once Blanco settled on his back, Skelly informed Dean that he’d put his opponent to sleep. When Dean moved in to check, he found that Skelly was telling the truth. Just like that, the fight was over almost as soon as it had begun.

The 19-second victory is the fastest of Skelly’s career, and it gets him back in the win column for the first time since his decision loss to Darren Elkins in March. Blanco has now lost two straight.